“I'm a different kind of chef,” Mayo said. “A lot of chefs aspire to have a five-star restaurant, have a small restaurant where they really do nice food. I am in love with the idea of building concepts that you can roll out 10, 20, 40, 50, 100 units and really develop those kinds of concepts.”

He's trying to do just that with the family-style Choke Canyon Bar-B-Q restaurants.

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So far, there are two, the new space on Blanco Road that opened last month and the original in Whitsett, on Interstate 37 south of Pleasanton.

Mayo, who works for Harlow Food Inc., was lured from Blanco BBQ to open Choke Canyon this year. Prior to that, he owned the popular Louie LeDeaux restaurant.

In the future, he will be part of the opening of Choke Canyon Travel Center, a highway stop near Devine that he said will rival Buc-ee's in size and food quality.

More Information

Choke Canyon Bar-B-Q

21510 Blanco Road

210-497-7235

In his current role at Choke Canyon, he wears so many hats, he really couldn't come up with his own title. After some thought, he settled on “concept developer.”

“Slash” might be a better term, as in host/general manager/cook/designer/developer/all-around good guy. Mayo, 48 and a longtime San Antonio resident, recently pulled himself away from the smoker, the kitchen and the dining room to discuss his latest development.

Talk about your role these days.

My passion is going after some of these (spaces), developing these units so we can do some multi-unit chains. It's fun to me to develop people within those systems and give them (the) opportunity to run these stores. ... When you think of having one store or one restaurant, you can only develop people so far. It's fun to see them develop into managers and then into general managers.

What about the concept for this restaurant?

I enjoy looking at food for the masses, but walk-up and order-fast concepts are the wave of the future. You look at the high-end restaurants and what is doing well, but ... the fast food and fast casual is humming along as well.

But that fast-food concept's not a new thing.

No, it's not, but I think you can look at a lot of these concepts, especially concepts with drive-thrus, and make them a lot better.

What's special about this Choke Canyon restaurant?

It's the last stop on Blanco Road here, so anybody going out this way can't miss it. We do about 60 percent of our sales through our drive-thru. It's a great neighborhood store. We have good family meals, with some family-value meals. And we're probably the lowest-price barbecue in San Antonio, and I think we're putting out the best product. Of course, I guess that's what everybody says (laughs).

What about your barbecue?

We do 100 percent post oak. ... A lot of these places, they use nothing but green oak. And it's just because they're doing so much volume. But we use a good season, a dry post oak, that gives it a sweet, beautiful, oaky flavor. I think that's important when you're tasting meat. I can taste barbecue and I can taste green wood.

You're a graduate of the CIA, so you have to be a good chef. What kind of food do you consider yourself an expert in?

My true passion is seafood. That's what I do at home and what I've done in the past (in Alaska, and with the Pappas Restaurant Group in Houston, among others). Owning a Cajun seafood restaurant for 10 years (Louie LeDeaux's) was one of my passions. I also call myself a fried-food expert. I think I can put out some of the best fried foods to compete with anyone. From soft-shell crab, to crawfish, to just about anything.

How long do you expect to be at Choke Canyon before your next project?

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I might be here another month or two. I live close by, so I'll always keep a close eye on it.